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Vedangi Kulkarni; from the India segment of her journey (Photo: Sumit Patil / This photo has been downloaded from the Facebook page of Sumit Patil)

As of December 22 morning, Vedangi Kulkarni currently attempting solo circumnavigation of the world unsupported on a bicycle, had 235 kilometers left to complete the India leg of her journey.

She was expected to finish the India segment in Kolkata, later in the day.

According to Vedangi’s website 158 days have passed since she started her journey from Perth Australia.

Her father, Vivek Kulkarni, informed that by the time she reaches Kolkata, Vedangi would have covered 29,000 kilometers as per the rules of circumnavigation. She will leave 16 kilometers to cycle in Perth, the starting point of her journey.

The segment of her trip cycled in India saw some route changes. She was earlier expected to head straight south from Ahmedabad (where she commenced the India leg) to Kerala and onward to Kanyakumari, which she did not. Instead, having cycled from Ahmedabad to Bharuch, Thane, Nigdi (Pune), Kolhapur, Belgaum, Davengere, Tumkur and Bengaluru, she moved towards Chennai and Nellore; eventually making her way to Kolkata.

The change presented by the Indian environment featured in one of her Facebook posts.

Not long after starting the India leg, she wrote, “ current stats suggest that I only have a little less than 3000 km to go. But by the looks (and feel) of it, none of it is coming easy. It’s all chaotic, in every imaginable way. I’ve got the sun furiously shining over me, burning my desire to cycle or digest food properly, especially after my body getting used to the sub-zero Russian winter and I have got the crazy traffic coming from all over making it impossible to switch off even for a second into peaceful auto-pilot mode.’’ Much later as she reached Andhra Pradesh, Cyclone Phethai caught up with her forcing cyclist to take a day off given the weather. In its aftermath and nearing the end of her circumnavigation project, she noted, “ I now know that I’m ready for anything and everything that comes my way, physically or mentally. There’ll always be a way to reach the goal, and not give up. As they say, fall down seven, stand up eight, eh? So we’ll be back on road tomorrow, now that the cyclone has passed and get those long miles in! The finish is so close yet so far!!’’

When she pedals into Kolkata, Vedangi – 19 years old and currently attending university in the UK – would be on the cusp of making history. Upon project completion in Perth, she will be the youngest to accomplish solo unsupported circumnavigation on a bicycle and the first Indian woman to do so, Vivek had said earlier.

(The author, Shyam G Menon, is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai. This report will be updated once Vedangi reaches Kolkata. For more on Vedangi please refer the blog’s story list, select from archives or simply scroll down.)